The Baby Bluff (Bar Down #2)

Prologue

LUCY

“Oh my gosh! I love this song!”

Elena’s voice is barely audible over the bass pounding through the club.

Her eyes are wide beneath the strobe lights and her hands find mine, her body moving from side to side to the music.

Laughter spills from my lips, mixing with the EDM music that wraps around us.

Elena leads me into the center of the crowd, releasing me as we both dance apart.

I didn’t get to go out with her for her twenty-first birthday last year, so we’re making it up this year by spending the weekend in NYC. Neither of us drink much alcohol and we’re already four mixed drinks deep at this point.

If the bartender knew what was good for anyone, she would have cut us off after the third.

My arms are above my head, my eyes closed, head tilted back as I let the sounds vibrate through my body, taking over my movements. My hips shift, my torso twisting. There’s something about being a body in a sea of people all losing themselves in the music.

A hand brushes against mine and my spine immediately stiffens. My eyes flash open, expecting Elena, but it’s not her. Instead, it’s a younger man, who looks to be in his early twenties, staring down at me with mischief dancing in his dark eyes.

His hands aren’t on me anymore and it must have only been to get my attention. My heart races and I look past him, finding Elena a few feet away, dancing between some guy and a girl I recognize from the bar.

“You here alone?” the guy asks, raking a hand through his dark blond hair.

My gaze sweeps over him, taking in his disheveled appearance.

He’s wearing a suit, like he stumbled in here after a wedding or a funeral.

His tie and the first three buttons of his white dress shirt are undone, showing his tanned skin beneath.

“I’m here with some friends,” I say over the music, my body instinctively continuing to sway. He moves in tandem with mine, but there’s distance between us.

His tongue darts out to wet his lips. My eyes are locked on his and I brush my hair from my face. He’s hot. “Nice. Me too.” He jerks his arm behind him, but I don’t look where he’s pointing. “A friend from college got married today, so we came here after the reception.”

Called it.

I smile and nod, finishing off my cocktail in one gulp. “I’m Lucy.”

He smirks, his body still subtly moving in beat with mine. “Alex.”

The music shifts, the DJ transitioning into a faster tempo song. The bass hits low and steady, like a second heartbeat thrumming through the club. Sweat trickles down the center of my back and the lights above pulse, fragmenting the room, slicing his face and the people dancing around us.

His gaze catches mine, lingering for a second too long.

He takes my glass, disappearing for a moment before reappearing empty-handed.

I turn around, my body moving to the sound of the music that pulsates around us.

As I spin back around, his eyes are back on mine, his tongue raking over his bottom lip again.

My lips spread into a seductive smirk as I inch closer. Fuck it. Dancing with a stranger isn’t a commitment. It’s a good time—and that’s exactly what I’m here to have.

Especially after seeing the photos online of Theo at that club in Vancouver last night.

My throat bobs and I force that image from my mind.

That’s not somewhere I’m allowing myself to go tonight.

I’m not supposed to feel jealous of him with another woman.

Seeing him with random women isn’t new, yet each time it cuts deeper.

He’s my best friend and we promised we would never let anything ruin that.

I take another step closer, closing the distance between me and the hot guy in front of me who isn’t looking at me like I’m just his friend.

His hand brushes against my wrist, the contact lingering for a second too long before his fingertips slide along my palm, pushing through the spaces between my fingers.

A soft laugh escapes me as he tugs me closer.

My body is flush against his and he releases my hand, grabbing for my waist as we move together.

“Do you always dance with strangers?” I tip my head back to look up at him.

A ghost of a smile dances across his lips. “Not normally, no.” His eyes sweep over my face. “You were hard to ignore.”

My hands lift to his chest, the heat of his body radiating through his shirt. I run my hands over lean muscles, reaching along the sides of his throat before circling them around his neck. His body’s solid and fit, fitting perfectly against mine.

“What about you?” he asks. His fingers dance across my bare skin above the waistband of my black jeans. “Do you?”

I swallow hard, shaking my head. “No.”

“What’s different about tonight?” His face dips closer. “You trying to forget about someone else?”

“Something like that,” I murmur. A shiver trails down my spine as his breath warms the side of my neck.

“Then let me help you forget.”

He presses his face against the side of my head, holding me against him as we start to move.

We lose ourselves in the music, grinding against one another until our skin is slick with sweat and his cock is hard, pressing against my stomach.

The DJ leads into another song and Alex spins me around to face the other direction, grinding his dick against my ass.

I’m drunk on the alcohol and the way he feels pressed against me.

He smells rich and expensive and right now, I can’t imagine his hands being anywhere other than on my body.

This isn’t something I normally do, but a painful reminder weighing on my chest makes me the perfect candidate for a bad decision tonight.

I lock eyes with Elena as she grinds against the guy who’s behind her, his hands on her hips.

The other couple she was with are still near them, their bodies twisting together.

Elena Ford is a certified man hater. Even though she can pull anyone she wants—man or woman—it isn’t often she ends up going home with anyone.

I swear, some men love the fact that she’s such a hater. It’s like the meaner she is, the more attracted to her they are.

Elena lifts her eyebrows at me, her head tilting to the side. I bite back a grin and wink as Alex runs his hands down the sides of my torso. Elena moves closer to me, breaking away from the guy she’s with and pulling me from Alex.

“You good, Luce?”

I smile, wrapping my arms around her. “I am. Are you?”

“Yeah,” she says, glancing at Alex, whose gaze is fixed on us. “Who’s he?”

“Alex.” I shrug. Knowing his name means nothing to her. “A distraction.”

Elena’s brows lift. She’s the only one who knows about how I’m always trying to chase away the thoughts of Theo. She saw the pictures this morning too.

“He’s a hot distraction.” She giggles. “Is he from here?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“If you end up leaving with him, just text me and make sure your location is shared.” She gives me a knowing look. “Just in case.”

“Always,” I promise her, kissing her cheek. “You do the same if you leave with anyone too.”

She smiles, releasing me before she disappears back into the crowd, making her way back over to the couple instead of the single guy. I smile, spinning back around to find Alex patiently waiting.

He steps closer, his large hands finding my hips as he guides my body back to his again. He leans forward, dropping his head and the stubble on his cheek grazes mine.

“What do you say we get out of here?” he breathes against the shell of my ear. “I’m staying at the hotel at the end of the block.”

He pulls back to look at me and waits. There’s no pressure and no appearance of expectation. It’s up to me. He’s offering me a night of forgetting. Take it or leave it.

I should probably say no.

But instead, I nod. “I’d like that.”

He lets out a breath, his expression softening as he reaches for my hand. “Okay.”

I send Elena a quick text and make sure my location is on. Alex leads me out of the club, and he wraps his arm around my waist as we head down the street to the hotel. It’s a short walk and we laugh as he trips up the stairs to the entrance.

Alex pulls me onto the elevator with him. His laughter wraps around me as I stumble into his solid chest. He links one arm around my waist, the other reaching out to press the button for his floor.

My room’s on the eighth floor. It’s not too late for me to head there instead. All I have to do is press the button with the number eight. Alex turns back to me. There’s a moment of pause. A beat of hesitation.

Fuck it.

He told me he’d make me forget.

I reach for the front lapels of his suit, tugging him closer. He pins me against the wall, his lips crashing into mine.

And right now, that’s all I want.